Debate...

Brad2296

Registered User
Please help my debate here...

My friend is trying to tell me that Ford made a Thunderbird, that was from the factory, a supercharged V8....I beg to differ because if they did do such a thing, what was the point of our 3.8 SC's? He tries telling me too that another friend of mine who used to have SC's and XR7's, that his mom owned one.

I've looked all over the web, and have found nothing.

Am I getting my chain yanked here? Or is there something I'm in the dark about?
 
they made 3 or 4 SVT prototypes. basically a cobra terminator powerplant in a tbird with a t56. none are known to survive. i believe thomas A posted a clip of one on youtube once.

as far as production... none were produced like that for mass market. the only supercharged v8 thunderbird that was marketed was back in the 50's i believe. the turbo coupe and super coupe are the only production forced induction thunderbirds since then.

she either had a super coupe, or the car had an aftermarket supercharger.
 
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they made 3 or 4 SVT prototypes. basically a cobra terminator powerplant in a tbird with a t56. none are known to survive. i believe thomas A posted a clip of one on youtube once.

as far as production... none were produced like that for mass market. the only supercharged v8 thunderbird that was marketed was back in the 50's i believe. the turbo coupe and super coupe are the only production forced induction thunderbirds since then.

she either had a super coupe, or the car had an aftermarket supercharger.

no, not really. ford never ever ever made a SVT thunderbird. SVT is the sales department, SVE is the engineering department of ford that designed the cars. SVE made a few 5speed dohc birds, they were ALL naturally aspirated, all of them, all 5 of them. AFTER 96 when ford decided to drop the tbird all together, John Coletti head of SVT at the time got one of the 5 cars, he then had a supercharger put on it. and yes he still has it. Roush has the other SVE dohc car that didnt get crushed. the other three well, there gone.


now, yes ford did make factory installed supercharged V8 cars. made a bunch of them. in 1957.


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Google is your friend.... wikipedia, actually...

The Thunderbird was revised for 1957 with a reshaped front bumper, a larger grille and tailfins, and larger tail lamps. The 312 cu in (5.1 L) V8 became the Thunderbird's standard engine, and now produced 245 horsepower (183 kW). Other, even more powerful versions of the 312 cu in (5.1 L) V8 were available including one with two four-barrel Holley carburetors and another with a Paxton supercharger delivering 300 horsepower (220 kW). Though Ford was pleased to see sales of the Thunderbird rise to a record-breaking 21,380 units for 1957, company executives felt the car could do even better, leading to a substantial redesign of the car for 1958.
 
wiki is not 100% accurate, Paxton was not the supplier of the supercharger in 1957, they were in fact McCullough that later became paxton.


The info I have says either 194 or 197 F-code 57 Thunderbirds were built. They're extremely rare...I've only seen one in person.

ive seen 2. one pink one blue.

and i have heard of a number of 212 built, but i havent gotten a true number. ive also heard 194 and 197 also. i dont know how many were done.
 
Well this is something that totally blew my mind today. I was at a car show, and seen a very nice 94/5 style red t-bird pull up. Had nice chromed Cobra R's, and a nice exhaust, with a 5.0 badge on it's side. Just before he turned off the car, he wrapped up the motor, and I heard the distinctive supercharger noise. So I suavely made my way over to his car after he popped his hood, and this is what I saw...

I've never seen anything like this before. The guy told me it is a factory car, he bought just like this. The car only had 12,000 miles on it.

Can anybody at all please explain to me what on earth this t-bird is?
 

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He could have bought the car that way if the dealer installed the kit, but it's not a Ford production piece. That is the SVO supercharger kit that was sold through SVO or Ford Racing at the time. It is a non-intercooled M90. It's also not a 5.0 unless the motor has been stroked (which is possible I guess). It's quite clearly a 4.6 mod motor and it's clearly not a production piece.

Very cool nonetheless.
 
That is the SVO supercharger kit that was sold through SVO or Ford Racing at the time. It is a non-intercooled M90.

Very cool nonetheless.

It is a M112. :eek:
The rotor packs have the same type of coating found on the Pontiac GTP.
I just picked up one up, which I am going to install on my wife's 95LX.
 
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I've had people point to their alternator and tell me its a turbo. Most people talk out there a#$ and have no idea what a car does other that drive them to Walmart.

I'm guessing your friend was horribly confused about what he heard or saw.
 
lol no cause cars run on fairy dust right?

This guy had a 90's Stealth RT, he thought Turbo. When he opened the hood to show me the engine the first thing I noticed was a lack of a turbo.

I asked him where it was and he points to the alternator. After a few chuckles I told him what was what. He was so mad at the guy that sold him the car cause he had said that was the Turbo. Makes sence to the uneducated person I guess.

No such thing as a stupid question.
 
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